A new report suggests nearly half of all criminal charges in Ontario are withdrawn or tossed out before trial leaving the province’s courts clogged and overloaded.

The report, which was commissioned by the Toronto Police Accountability Coalition, uses Statistics Canada data and finds significantly heavier caseloads in the court systems of provinces like Ontario - where police lay charges - versus province’s where Crown attorneys screen charges.

The report argues that Crown lawyers should have the deciding role in which charges to lay, based on the probability of conviction.